The Quest for the Yummy Gummy

*Im chuckling to myself over the title of this post. It just sounds so…dorky? Dumb? Dirty? Im not sure, but Im leaving it*

Whats says “I love you” more then chewy strawberry heart candies? Um, NOTHING, obviously! So thats why I decided to make them for this months issue of Framework Magazine!

This recipe is an original, literally invented out of a burning hatred for all the gummy candy recipes I tried from the internet. These are delicious, all others are crap. Bold statement I know, but totally true. You can leave me now and get the recipe by clicking HERE or you can read on to hear the whole tale and be further convinced of my gummy capabilities ;)

Troubleshooting a crap recipe (or in this case, many crap recipes): After an extensive Google search, I found that all the “homemade gummy candy” recipes were pretty much the same. They varied slightly on the ratios of liquid to gelatine and whatnot, but for the most part they all comprised of three ingredients: water, Jello and gelatine. I tried three recipes, I was grossed out three times. Now those of you who have been following the blog or my Facebook page for a while will know I have some serious hate for gimmicky treats that look cool but taste bad (ex. cake pops) and this is what I was getting with these candies. I had never played with gelatine before, I use it when I make homemade marshmallows but other then that I have no experience with how it works. So a personal challenge had been made and I was officially putting on my mad-scientist hat and going after what I wanted to taste.

The first thing to go was the Jello, I think it was the most offensive ingredient as the gummies tasted exactly like it, but in a bad way. I like Jello a lot, when its wiggly and cold and topped in whipped cream. But when its stiff and room temp and hard-chewy and way too strong in its flavour it just totally threw me off. I wanted soft gummies that actually tasted like fruit! So I ditched the Jello and the water and decided to sub frozen juice concentrate for my flavour and liquid. It was good, way better then the Jello but still too stiff in texture (too much gelatine used) and not flavourful enough.

When I was in the store getting more ingredients I spied frozen daiquiri concentrate, with real fruit flecks and tartness and lots more flavour!! Everyone loves a daiquiri, but could a daiquiri in a wobbly-solid form be just as loveable as its liquid counterpart? Hmm. I grabbed what I needed and headed over to Frances’. I was supposed to be there with a finished product for her to photograph but instead showed up late and flustered and ready to make a mess. She didn’t mind and its just one of the many reasons why I love her so.

The frozen daiquiri mix was totally the perfect way to go! The flavour was now delicious, so all I had left to figure out was the best liquid to gelatine ratio to get the chewiness right. We persevered, Frances and I. We suffered through sampling endless amounts of chewy strawberry goodness and getting a total sugar high, but we solved it in the end and came up with a very yummy candy indeed ;)

To get the recipe for this candy you need to go HERE, Framework Magazines February issue. We are on page 17 but I say peruse the whole issue, it’s beautifully done, as always. I was featured there once before and you can get the link on my bio page.

These were all beautifully packaged with supplies from the Essential Packaging Store and the link to the clear boxes I used are HERE. You can get them in-store or online.

The heart molds were bought from my favourite local cake supply store, Scoop N Save, and the link for those are HERE. you can also get these in-store or online.

And of course, Frances Eden Creative provided the always outstanding photo skills, taste testing AND a fun printable you can use to package these guys up for your loved ones. You can get the printable through Framework Magazine or by clicking HERE.

So that is my rather long winded tale of how I came up with a rather simple candy. Play with the different daiquiri flavours and molds available to have treats for more then just Valentines Day. I hope you *heart* them as much as I do ;)

Jen @ Jen's Favorite Cookies-Well, I appreciate your hard work, because this is obviously a recipe that needed to be right. I’ve hesitated to make them myself, because everything made with Jello tastes like Jello. Ever tried that Jello popcorn? Gross. We’re totally bosom buddies on this one!ReplyCancel